I think your illustration has failed, though, because I would very much choose b). I consider a) as an evil in the world and would avoid participating in that if at all possible. b) sounds like a really good choice for long-term investment in in sustainable society.

> All else being equal

Okay but all else is not equal, and in the real world, it is never equal. These thought experiments do nothing to improve conditions in the real world, since they are based on flawed models of how people behave.